Pooles Island Light

Last updated
Pooles Island Light
Pooles Island Light.jpg
2011
Pooles Island Light
LocationPooles Island off Aberdeen Proving Ground
Coordinates 39°17′25.6″N76°15′58.8″W / 39.290444°N 76.266333°W / 39.290444; -76.266333 Coordinates: 39°17′25.6″N76°15′58.8″W / 39.290444°N 76.266333°W / 39.290444; -76.266333
Tower
Constructed1825
ConstructionStone
Automated1918
Height11.5 m (38 ft)  OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Shapeconical tower
HeritageNational Register of Historic Places listed place  OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Fog signal none
Light
First lit1825
Deactivated1939 - 2011
Focal height44 feet (13 m)
Lensfourth-order Fresnel lens
Characteristic FI(4+3) W 16s
Pooles Island Lighthouse
Nearest city Edgewood, Maryland
Area1 acre (0.40 ha)
Built1825 (1825)
Built byDonohoo, John
NRHP reference No. 97000060 [1]
Added to NRHPFebruary 19, 1997

Pooles Island Light is the oldest lighthouse still standing in Maryland [2] and the fourth oldest in the Chesapeake Bay area. The light is located on Pooles Island in the central Chesapeake Bay.

Contents

History

Pooles Island was originally named Powell's Island by John Smith, but over the years the name was changed, possibly to reflect the numerous springs and pools on the island. The island was famed in the 18th and 19th centuries for its fertility, particularly for the peaches raised there in the 1880s and '90s. As it lies near the center of the bay near the mouth of the Gunpowder River, it was one of the first places in the area considered for a lighthouse, and in 1824 Congress appropriated $5,000 for construction of a light. John Donahoo and Simon Frieze won the contract to build it, the first of many lights constructed by Donahoo. The roughly constructed granite tower and keeper's house were joined three years later by a fog bell tower, the first in the state. In 1857 the original system of Argand lamps and reflectors was replaced by a fourth order Fresnel lens. [3]

As part of the establishment of Aberdeen Proving Ground in 1917, Pooles Island was purchased by the federal government, and the light station turned over to the Army. The light was automated the following year. In 1939, it was decommissioned, and the surrounding structures were torn down. In 1927, a new black skeleton tower attached to a black caisson structure was built out in the water off the southern end of Pooles island as Pooles Island Bar Light. It was placed in operation in November 1927 and remains an active aid to navigation.

In 1994, the Army submitted a proposal to add the lighthouse to the National Register of Historic Places, with the intent to restore it to service as a private navigational aid. As part of this effort a thorough renovation effort was made to protect and stabilize the structure. It was added to the Register on February 19, 1997 as Pooles Island Lighthouse.

Pooles Island Light is "off limits to the general public because the island was used for bombing and shelling practice from 1918 through the early 1960s. There are many unexploded bombs and shells all over the island." [4]

Re-lighting

Pooles Island Lighthouse is in operation after 72 years of deactivation. Army officials at Aberdeen Proving Ground re-lit the beacon with fanfare as part of Armed Forces Day celebrations May 21, 2011. [5] [6] The Harford County Chamber of Commerce sponsored a dinner cruise for officials and community members to see the historic relighting ceremony. More than 300 spectators watched the show from the Spirit of Baltimore as part of the cruise sponsored by the Harford County Chamber of Commerce, Office of Economic Development, and the Army Alliance in cooperation with Aberdeen Proving Ground.

Spelling

Various sources spell (or misspell) the name as Pools Island,Poole's Island, or Pool's Island. For example, nightbeacon.com's "Listing of United States Lighthouses" records this as "Pooles Island (Pools Island)", with one of the alternate spellings in parentheses [7] Lighthousedepot.com calls it the "Poole's Island Light". [8] In Lafayette in America (Chicago, 1975), historian Louis Gottschalk writes, "The next day Nicholson's fleet anchored at Pool's Island, about fifteen miles out in the bay, and they arrived at Annapolis two days later...." [9] These variant spellings, though perhaps erroneous, have been in use for a long time. For example, early colonist Augustine Herrman kept a journal including an entry for Friday, October 3, 1659 which begins: "Rowed forward all day. Pass the eastern side of Pools Island near the western shore of Sassafracx River." [10]

Aberdeen Proving Ground officials reactivated the Pooles Island Light using solar power in May 2011 Pooles island light.jpg
Aberdeen Proving Ground officials reactivated the Pooles Island Light using solar power in May 2011

Notes

  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of the United States: Maryland". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
  3. W. Patrick Giglio (November 1993). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: Pooles Island Light" (PDF). Maryland Historical Trust. Retrieved 2016-01-01.
  4. "Pooles Island Light". Our Heritage. Chesapeake Chapter, United States Lighthouse Society. Retrieved May 1, 2012.
  5. APG Public Affairs Office (May 22, 2011). "Aberdeen Proving Ground relights lighthouse after 72 years". U.S. Army. Retrieved May 1, 2012.
  6. Mary Gail Hare (September 5, 2011). "Pooles Island Lighthouse shines again and symbolizes growth at APG". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved May 1, 2012.[ permanent dead link ]
  7. "Listing of United States Lighthouses". nightbeacon.com. Archived from the original on November 17, 2006.
  8. "Shop Lighthouse Depot". Lighthouse Depot. Archived from the original on May 6, 2012. Retrieved May 1, 2012.
  9. "The 225th Anniversary of Lafayette's First Visit to Mount Vernon". Xenophon Group. March 31, 2006. Retrieved May 1, 2012.
  10. Anne Dowling Grulich. "The Mettle of Mobility: Travel in the Colonial Chesapeake as Exhibited by Metal Artifacts". Chesapeake Archaeology. Retrieved May 1, 2012.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harford County, Maryland</span> County in Maryland, United States

Harford County is located in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 census, the population was 260,924. Its county seat is Bel Air. Harford County is included in the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the Washington-Baltimore-Arlington, DC-MD-VA-WV-PA Combined Statistical Area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aberdeen, Maryland</span> City in Maryland, United States

Aberdeen is a city located in Harford County, Maryland, United States, 26 miles (42 km) northeast of Baltimore. The population was 16,254 at the 2020 United States Census. Aberdeen is the largest municipality in Harford County.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aberdeen Proving Ground</span> United States Army facility located adjacent to Aberdeen, Maryland, US

Aberdeen Proving Ground (APG) is a U.S. Army facility located adjacent to Aberdeen, Harford County, Maryland, United States. More than 7,500 civilians and 5,000 military personnel work at APG. There are 11 major commands among the tenant units, including:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Point Shoal Light</span> Lighthouse in Maryland, United States

The Thomas Point Shoal Light, also known as Thomas Point Shoal Light Station, is a historic lighthouse in the Chesapeake Bay on the east coast of the United States, and the most recognized lighthouse in Maryland. It is the only screw-pile lighthouse in the bay which stands at its original site. The current structure is a 1½ story hexagonal wooden cottage, equipped with a foghorn as well as the light.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baltimore Harbor Light</span> Lighthouse in Maryland, United States

The Baltimore Harbor Light, officially Baltimore Light and historically Baltimore Harbor Lighthouse is a privately owned caisson lighthouse in the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. First lit in 1908, it sits at the mouth of the Magothy River, marking the channel which leads northwest to the opening of the Patapsco River, which then leads into the Baltimore harbor. The light is located adjacent to the mouth of the Magothy River. At the time of its construction, it was the world's tallest caisson lighthouse. In June 2006, Baltimore Light was sold at auction to private owners by the General Services Administration for $260,000; the U.S. Coast Guard maintains rights to operate a light on the structure.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Point No Point Light (Maryland)</span> Lighthouse in Maryland, United States

Point No Point Light, located in the Chesapeake Bay off the eponymous point several miles north of the mouth of the Potomac River, was constructed as part of a program to add lighted navigational aids in a thirty-mile stretch of the bay between Cove and Smith Points.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blakistone Island Light</span> Lighthouse in Maryland, United States

The Blackistone Island Light was a lighthouse located on what is now St. Clement's Island on the Potomac River in Maryland. It is best known as the target of a Confederate raid in the Civil War. Completed in 1851, the structure was destroyed by fire in 1956 and its shell was razed; a replica was completed in 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piney Point Light</span> Lighthouse in Maryland, United States

The Piney Point Lighthouse was built in 1836 located at Piney Point on the Potomac River in Maryland just up the river from the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. The Coast Guard decommissioned it in 1964 and it has since become a museum. It is known as the Lighthouse of Presidents because several early US Presidents visited or stayed on the grounds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Concord Point Light</span> Lighthouse in Maryland, United States

Concord Point Light is a 36-foot (11 m) lighthouse in Havre de Grace, Maryland. It overlooks the point where Susquehanna River flows into the Chesapeake Bay, an area of increasing navigational traffic when it was constructed in 1827. It is the northernmost lighthouse and the second-oldest tower lighthouse still standing on the bay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sharps Island Light</span> Lighthouse in Maryland, United States

The Sharps Island Light is the third lighthouse to stand nearly 3 miles (5 km) south-southwest from the southern end of Tilghman Island in Maryland's Chesapeake Bay. The structure is best known today for evoking the Leaning Tower of Pisa, a condition caused by an ice floe in 1977.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Point Lookout Light</span> Lighthouse in Maryland, United States

Point Lookout Light is a lighthouse that marks the entrance to the Potomac River at the southernmost tip of Maryland's western shore of the Chesapeake Bay, south of the town of Scotland in Saint Mary's County, Maryland, USA. It is known for its association with ghost stories and has been the subject of paranormal investigations. The lighthouse is located in Point Lookout State Park. It is not open to the public.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Turkey Point Light</span> Lighthouse in Maryland, United States

The Turkey Point Light is a historic lighthouse at the head of the Chesapeake Bay. Although only a 35-foot (11 m) tower, the 100-foot (30 m) height of the bluffs on which it stands makes it the third highest light off the water in the bay. It is also known for the large number of women who served as lightkeeper.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fishing Battery Light</span> Lighthouse in Maryland, United States

Fishing Battery Light was the last lighthouse constructed in Maryland by John Donahoo. While still standing, it has been supplanted by a steel tower which stands adjacent to it.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cove Point Light</span> Lighthouse in Maryland, United States

The Cove Point Light is a lighthouse located on the west side of Chesapeake Bay in Calvert County, Maryland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hooper Island Light</span> Lighthouse in Maryland, United States

The Hooper Island Light is a lighthouse in the Chesapeake Bay, west of Middle Hooper Island in Maryland.

The Fog Point Light was a historic lighthouse located at Fog Point, the northwestern tip of Smith Island, Maryland in the Chesapeake Bay.

The Clay Island Light was a historic lighthouse located on Clay Island at the mouth of the Nanticoke River on the Chesapeake Bay. Constructed in 1832, it continued to serve the area until 1892, when it was replaced by the Sharkfin Shoal Light. Two years later, the building collapsed, and nothing remains of it.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cedar Point Light (Maryland)</span> Lighthouse in Maryland, United States

The Cedar Point Light was the last house-type lighthouse built in the Chesapeake Bay. An early victim of shoreline erosion, the cupola and gables are preserved at museums.

The North Point Range Lights were some of the earliest lights in the Maryland portion of the Chesapeake Bay. Intended to guide ships headed for Baltimore harbor into the Patapsco River, they were superseded by channel construction in the 1870s and 1980s, and were replaced by the Craighill Channel Upper Range front and rear lights.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pooles Island</span>

Pooles Island is a small island located on the Chesapeake Bay, part of Harford County, Maryland. It is southeast of the southern tip of Gunpowder Neck. The Pooles Island Light was built on it. Pooles Island was used for bombing practice from 1918 through the 1960s as part of Aberdeen Proving Ground. Access to the island is prohibited due to unexploded ordnance.

References